So another week down…. Another crazy week, 3 countries, too many late nights and not enough rest! So Friendly Fun Franks in Riga, Latvia was a great hostel! Probably the biggest I’ve ever been to and it has a proper bar where they serve alcohol 24 hrs a day. As soon as you arrive you get a free welcome beer, which obviously sets the mood straight away. On my first night there I went out with a crazy Greek and an American. It was a pretty quiet night with a few bars and some late night pool and darts. The next day I went sight seeing the beautiful city of Riga. There is a park there set on the river that felt like something out of a fantasy movie. Totally amazing! And the city is always lively by night. I went and ate at a restaraunt where you pile your plate as
high as you can and it’s dirt cheap 🙂 Nothin’ better!
The second night I went on a pub crawl. It was a Monday night so town was fairly quiet but we went to a few cool bars, finishing up at a Kiwi bar. Even though it was a quiet night we were all quite pissy by the end as they make sure you’re never without a beer! I then went with some Finnish guys to a strip club, which was a disappointment. They must have thought we had no money (which is probably true) and there weren’t many people there so I think in the 2 hours we were there one girl came out to dance and only because we asked for one! Another night, which turned into an early morning, which turned into a massive hangover. I went to bed at 8am and had an alarm set for 10.30am to take a bus to Estonia, but slept until 12pm when a nice Dutch girl woke me up knowing I was supposed to check out then. This is becoming quite a habit, haha. So I missed my bus, once again and took the next one to go to the city of Tallinn.
When I arrived in Tallinn I met some interesting Turkish guys so we walked the streets until I finally found my hostel. And another great hostel I found! Very social, most of the workers are Aussies which is always fun 🙂 And it even had a spa and sauna! You don’t get that in every hostel!! I was still extremely hungover, (being sick as well
didn’t help) so went to bed instead of going out and slept for a good 12 hours 🙂 Yipee! The next day I went sight seeing with a cool Canadian girl, Justine and we stumbled across some amazing little places; an incredible cafe with the most amazing interior I’ve ever seen. Then a gallery we found randomly, which was soooo cool. The artist was a middle aged hippie completely dressed in yellow, laying (stoned, probably) on the couch out the back where he lived. It was like something out of a movie. We walked through the preserved medieval areas, ate an amazing and huge Estonian meal and explored the city. Tallinn is now very high on my list of favourite places! A city full of life and charm and beauty. 🙂
That night I was recharged and ready to go. It was wizard Wednesday at the hostel, which means after every can of beer you tape the next on top. You are supposed to make your can stack as tall as you are… Some exceeeded that and some definately didn’t! It becomes quite funny when you have 7 cans taped together and you are trying to drink without hitting anything or anyone! We then went on a pub crawl, but after the first or second pub me and
some of the others lost the group.. I saw a young guy with a sign saying “I have no money, I need beer. Please help!” haha I loved the honesty so much I stopped to give him money and take a photo. We continued our own pub crawl anyway and ended up at a wild nightclub called Hollywood. It was awesome!!
The next day I took an afternoon ferry to Helsinki. Once again I slept in and ended up taking the last ferry, which wasn’t my plan, but I’ve learned to go with it. The ferry is like the Titanic, absolutely massive! There is a restaurant, a bar, supermarket… Everything! I was too tired to get amongst it all, but I sat in the lounge outside the karaoke bar so I did some interesting people watching 😉 There was a crazy Serbian guy sitting next to me with his girlfriend, listening to an Ipod and singing Serbian tunes at the top of his lungs, eyes closed and totally into it. Most people were shocked or were glaring at his loudness, but I could not contain myself from laughing! Especially to see everyones faces as they watched him, bewildered. I was really upset when a guy working on the boat told him to keep the volume down. It was so entertaining!
I arrived late lastnight in Helsinki so didn’t do anything, but shower and go to bed. I am staying in one of the weirdest hostels yet, which always puts a damper on things. Today I took the ferry with some English girls to the fortress. Besides that it’s absolutely freezing cold here (and supposed to be summer!) it was beautiful!Now I’m way too cold to leave the hostel, especially seeings I packed for a summer trip so I think I’ll stay in tonight and finally catch up on some rest. Tomorrow evening I am flying to Berlin. Ahh, my first flight in a while :s Then it’s 3 more countries in just over a week before I fly back to Aussie land.
No rest for the wicked! 🙂
